How Did Gary Get His Name?

How'd Gary get his name? Gwyneth picked his name in honor of Spongebob's snail, Gary. I found this video in tribute of Gwyn for picking out such a smart name.

A New Box, A New Conquest

Gary found a new box to enjoy.

Gilbert wanted the box, too and bullied Gary out.  But Gilbert doesn't quite fit.

Gilbert tried to squeeze in the box.

He tried again.

But poor Gilbert, he just doesn't fit.

Gilbert Takes on Egypt

I couldn't resist photoshopping Gilbert when I photographed him at the perfect angle.

My Kitty has Herpes

Poor Gilbert!  We noticed late last night, when Dan was doing his daily eye clean (Gilbert gets a lot of eye burgers), Dan and I noticed his right eye wasn't opening all the way.   Dan went to gently rub out the eye burgers and poor guy whimpered in pain!  He winced and quickly turned his nose to hide in Dan's elbow.  Dan coaxed his little head out and I quickly tried to open his eye.  Gilbert's inside eye lid was all swollen & red!

Dan reacted quickly.  He went online looking for a vet.  We found one.  Affiliated Vet Emergency Service was a 24 hour ER for pets!  Dan said to me, "Let's go.  Got the phone? Got the keys?"  I was discombobulated, and could barely find my own head.  "You're horrible in stressful situations,"  He chuckled.  We got our sad old little cardboard carrier, I grabbed a dirty smelly shirt of Dan's to put in the carrier. Dan grabbed Gilbert from Gary.  Gary was trying to clean Gilbert's eye!  Dan placed Gilbert in the box.  Gilbert was a good boy about the box.  No complaints.

As we were driving Dan was thinking deeply, shaking his head.  "What?" I asked.  "This reminds me of every time we had to take Gabrielle to the ER for her ear infections.." I sympathized with him momentarily, then humorously added, "Well, this isn't Gabby, this is Gilbert."  Dan chuckled.  "Yea, my daughter and a cat."  It lightened the mood and we continued on to the vet.

The vet was extremely busy!  There were dogs, bunnies, other cats, and arguing family members.  Absolute chaos in the waiting room.  But the staff was great, quick and efficient.  

This was Gilbert on the examination table, curled up to Dan's shirt.  Poor guy was a trooper.  He let the vet examine him, he never cried.  Dan commented that, "Little guy knows we're here to help him."

The prognosis: conjuctivitis.  Or simply put, cat eye infection.  The vet explained that the number one reason for this in cats is the Herpes Virus, however it still may be bacterial.  In her opinion, it's the herpes.  I teased Dan, "Your cat has herpes!"  "Your cat's retarded!" he shot back with hurt feelings. I laughed and laughed at him.

The doctor prescribed a antibiotic ointment and a pain reliever.  She showed us how to apply the ointment in his eye and how to administer his medicine for the pain.  Apparently the pain reliever is a controlled substance is the human equivalent to vicodin, in a liquid form.  I will tell you it definitely worked on him!

This was Gilbert after pain medications was given to him.  Poor guy.

This morning, it looked like the swelling went down a bit, but Gilbert was very gingerly trying to clean his eye.  I tried to reapply the eye ointment while Dan held him, but apparently how I was doing it was unacceptable.  lol  After all, Dan & Gilbert are buddies.  Dan should be administering the drugs to Gilbert, not me.  lol  I don't mind how ever it gets done, as long as its done.

So Gilbert is now doped up, sitting under the kitchen table enjoying the sunshine.  I hope his eye gets better soon.

Kitty Surprise

It's been a while since my last post . . . .

So I know its been a while since my last post.... but to update you:

Dan & I have been training Gilbert to hunt and eat bugs.  Poor guy will lunge his head down to eat up the bug, but the bug will already have moved.  It's quite amusing.  I've been helping him by flipping the bug over on its back so he cat eat it.  Whenever he actually eats a bug, Gilbert just purrs and purrs and looks up at me, like he knows he's a good boy and did a good job.

We have had an invasion of ants in our flat this year.  They have proven to be vigilant to bug spray.  Gilbert has made it these ants his first priority.  He has proven to be a strong defense on the front line in this on going battle.  If he cannot eat them, he has been herding them into a corner until Dan or myself come by.  He will meow at us to let us know that he has them cornered.   After all, he is a good boy and lets us know it.  lol

Now Gary is being Gary.  He has been quite lazy with the weather warming up.  To his credit, he always seems to know when I am not feeling well.  I have not been well these past couple of months and ended up in the ER a couple weeks ago.  Of course nothing was done because of insurance problems, so my issues have been on going.  I have a doctor appointment this month so we can determine what's going on with me and hopefully fix it.  Yada yada..... back to Gary.

So I have been napping frequently, or complaining that I am in pain, and Gary has been right there every time.  He comes around, rubs against me, or will lick my hand.  He has even taken to rolling over on his back and exposing his belly for me to rub.  That is something he's never done before.  I like to think he's trying to cheer me up, or at least get my mind off of negative things.  He may not be very smart, but I'm sure he can feel the mood in the room.

So between the distractions, work loads, not feeling well, our little family is enduring.  I have to compliment Dan for balancing everything so well.  I haven't been able to keep up with much, and he has been there filling in where I have been slacking.  These two cats have definitely helped us through tough times.  They are amusing to watch, consoling to have faithful companions, and soothing to have something to nurture.  I look forward to the day when we can share our faithful companions with Dan's daughters.   I do believe they would love Gary & Gilbert as much as we do.